By Tiernan Ray

At Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas this afternoon, consumer 3-D printer makers MakerBot, a division of Stratasys (SSYS), spoke to a standing-room-only crowd at the Consumer Electronics Shop, with co-founder Bre Pettis promising to talk about “a new beginning” and a couple products, including enhancements to the “Replicator” line.

MakerBot has sold 44,000 units, and Pettis said the “community” of users, who share designs for objects via the company's “thingiverse” network, have collectively downloaded 48 million objects to date.

Pettis talked about some stand-out uses of the company's machines. Two children were able to use MakerBot machines for their own prosthetic hands. People have made special soccer balls for the developing world that use kinetic energy to build up electrical potential that can power a light so children can work on their homework at night.

The main appeal, though, of the technology is that designs that could only be “iterated” a couple times over the course of a year can now be iterated several times a day.

The company has opened an “experience store” in Manhattan and has opened up two other retail locations, in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Boston, and intends to open overseas locations. At the stores, a scanner can take your portrait in three dimensions and then produce a physical “portrait.” He advises you take your kids in and have their portrait done in 3-D.

The company is announcing today a partnership with 3-D sensor makers Softkinetic. It will lead to the “scanners of tomorrow,” he says.

Pettis, who was a school teacher in Seattle for seven years, talked about the company's intention to get a MakerBot into every school in the U.S. To date, 106,268 students have been able to benefit from the initiative, he said. He compared the plan to when he got his first Apple II machine as a youngster.

Pettis then turned to “three very large, ominous boxes” on a table on stage. The boxes were taken away to reveal new machines. The first is the “Replicator Mini.”

“This is our consumer printer,” said Pettis, calling it a one-touch, no-compromise printer “for everyone,” with a focus on being able to get started quickly. “This would be a point-and-shoot” if it were a camera, he said.

In fact, it has a camera! Why? To be able share photos from within the printer with people on social networks. (It's connected over WiFi.)

“We want you to share your creativity,” says Pettis.

The machine works with the company's “PLA filament,” a plastic made from corn that is environmentally friendly.

The apparatus for printing, the “smart extruder,” connects to the Devore with magnets, making it easy to refill with filament, and pauses its workload while you refill it, so you don't lose your work. “It's kind of a big deal,” said Pettis.

The devices will cost $1,375 and will ship in the spring.

The next ominous box was removed to reveal the third generation of the company's flagship Replicator machine, which improves upon the prior machine with higher resolution and object sizes that are 11% larger. Reverting standard resolution makes the machine print faster.

Pettis said it is the prosumer model. “This is what they're going to be salivating over at NASA, at Lockheed, at architecture studios,” he said.

Pettis said the machine will also include the built-in camera. It not only connects through USB or WiFi to your design computer, but also has an option for Ethernet connecting, and can accept files via a flash memory stock. Pettis said a “build plate” in the machine lets one calibrate how the extruder is aligned to get the best possible printing.

The machine is available for pre-order today. It will ship in a couple weeks. It's $2,899.

The third machine was the “Replicator Z18.”

“If you've been wanting to make something big, you can't complain anymore,” said Pettis. It can handle 12 x 12 x 18 inches objects. “This is epic,” said Pettis. 2,592 cubic inches. Pettis said the machine will be used by the company to actually make parts for MakerBots. “We're going to use this to make MakerBots. The Z18 can also make multiple objects at the same time.

It is named for the 18-inch measurement on the Z-Axis.

“This is industrial-strength 3-D printing.” The machine has a heater, unlike the others, which means that things made with it will maintain their structural integrity. To demonstrate the quality, on display was a life-size samurai mask and helmet in exquisite detail.

It ships in the spring. Pricing is $2,899.

With three different models spanning three different classes of user, “the question is not whether you're going to get a MakerBot, but which one you're going to get,” said Pettis.

Pettis also announced new software, including the ability to store designs in the cloud, and a dashboard that will show how much longer a job will take to finish printing.

There is also now a mobile application. “You'll have access to all things MakerBot in your pocket,” he said, such as monitoring and controlling jobs.

The company is also going to offer something called “Printshop,” which is the company's response to repeated demands over the years for design software. The program will allow one to make simple things such as a sigh just by typing a message, with parameters for the object provided as templates. Another feature is “bracelet maker,” to easily make gifts.

But there's “one more thing,” Pettis quipped. “MakerBot Entertainment.” It is a team of people who have created objects for a MakerBot “digital store.” People have been wanting to purchase and download things that “just work.” He said the team has made models that one can buy as 3-D designs the same way you would download songs of a particular artist.

First up among them are a collection of cartoon characters. One set, of cute pet figurines, is called “Pet Pals.” There are also toys of various airplanes. “In many ways we are exploring a frontier, what do people want, what is interesting?” said Pettis. The figures are available immediately from the MakerBot Web site.

As swag for the event, the company gave attendees a 3-D-printed figurine, pictured in the accompanying photo.

About Tech Trader Daily

Tech Trader Daily is a blog on technology investing written by Barron’s veteran Tiernan Ray. The blog provides news, analysis and original reporting on events important to investors in software, hardware, the Internet, telecommunications and related fields. Comments and tips can be sent to: techtraderdaily@barrons.com.